The Supreme Court of India.
Credit: Reuters File Photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to hear on August 8 an application seeking directions to the Centre to restore the statehood of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan mentioned the matter before a bench led by Chief Justice of India B R Gavai.
The counsel said that the matter is shown as listed on August 8 and requested that it not be deleted from the list of that day.
The CJI accepted the request and said the matter will not be deleted from the list on August 8.
The application had said that it becomes necessary that appropriate directions are passed directing the status of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir to be restored at the earliest in a time bound manner as had been undertaken by the Union government before the apex court.
The plea was filed by college teacher Zahoor Ahmed Bhat and activist Khurshaid Ahmad Malik.
It stated that despite the assurance given by the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that Jammu and Kashmir's statehood will be restored, the Union government has not taken any steps in that regard in the years after the judgment in the Article 370 case.
The application was filed through advocate Soyaib Qureshi in the disposed of case related to abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution related to the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Since the date of judgment on December 11, 2023, no step has been taken to restore the status of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir as a state which is gravely affecting the rights of the inhabitants of Jammu and Kashmir and also violating the basic structure of federalism," it said.
The plea also said since the assembly elections were conducted peacefully, there would be no security concerns in case the apex court passed a direction to restore statehood to the Union Territory within a time-bound period.